Foreign Ministry's press releases

Adopted in June 2013, Protocol No. 15 to the European Convention on Human Rights will enter into force on 1 August 2021. Its entry into force will reduce the application period to four months and also introduce other changes to the right to submit applications to the European Court of Human Rights. The shorter application period is, however, subject to a transition period, which ends on 1 February 2022.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted EUR 17 million to international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) for 2021–2024. The support was granted to five organisations for their work on promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHRs) worldwide, and especially in Afghanistan, and for strengthening tax transparency in sub-Saharan Africa.

Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi today in Chengdu, Southwest China, and held discussions with him on bilateral issues, EU-China relations and some key international questions.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will visit China on 24–25 July. Meeting will take place in the capital of Sichuan province, Chengdu.

On Friday 16 July 2021, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs repatriated two Finnish children and their mother from Roj camp in northeast Syria. All three persons are Finnish citizens. The children are under school age. They are now in the care of competent Finnish authorities.

On 13 July 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a decision, which annuls the Court’s previous judgment concerning Finland in the case of N.A. v. Finland relating to the return of an asylum-seeker to Iraq in its entirety.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday 12 July. The main topics of discussion will be Ethiopia, the Strategic Compass, and the geopolitics of new digital technologies. In addition, the meeting will approve conclusions on a Globally Connected Europe. The foreign ministers will meet Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs at a working lunch and Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs at a working breakfast. Minister Haavisto will also attend a meeting of the Nordic and Baltic counties in NB6 format and a meeting of Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany in the N3+1 format.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will meet Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on 8 July in Helsinki.

This year, the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will focus on sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Finnish delegation will be headed by Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has sent out for comments a proposal on amendments to the Decree of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Fees for Services Produced by the Foreign Service. The consultation round will be open until 6 August 2021. According to the proposal, the prices of identity cards and passports issued by missions abroad would be raised by 6 euros and 55 euros respectively.